Mothers and their adolescent daughters: Transitions and transformations

Throughout adolescence the mother-daughter relationship reflects the tension between the tasks of separation and the need to renegotiate connection. This dilemma may be at the source of frustration in the mother-daughter relationship during adolescence. Theoretical perspectives, with emphasis on feminist theories, and clinical vignettes will be highlighted to illustrate the interface between individual development and the transformations in the mother-daughter pair.is on the faculty of the Institute of Clinical Social Work, Chicago and in private practice in Evanston, Illinois. Marcia Kornfeld Spirais on the faculty of the Institute of Clinical Social Work, the faculty of Loyola University and in private practice in Wilmette, Illinois.     

A role-reversal in the mother-daughter relationship

Psychoanalytic theorists have noted a particular dynamic in the mother-infant relationship in which the emotional needs of the mother predominate. When this situation occurs, the emotional needs of the infant may go unmet, resulting in impaired self-development. Through an integration of the ideas of mainstream psychoanalytic theorists and feminist psychoanalytic thinkers, this paper proposes the idea that, because of the intensity of the mother-daughter relationship, this dynamic may be more prevalent between mothers and daughters than between mothers and sons. A mother-daughter relationship is described in which the mother comes to depend on her daughter for emotional attunement and response, and the mother's selfobject needs predominate. As a consequence, the daughter is unable to develop a cohesive sense of self and experiences difficulty in achieving separation. Two clinical reports are presented to illustrate the way in which this mother-daughter dynamic manifests itself in the patient's life and in the therapeutic relationship. A negative transference dynamic is described resulting from these patient's fear of duplicating their relationship with their mothers in the therapeutic relationship by having to meet the selfobject needs of the therapist.     

The Conjoint Session as a Tool for the Resolution of Separation-Individuation in the Adult Mother-Daughter Relationship

In the present article, two case reports are used to examine the adult mother-daughter relationship from the point of view of the mother. The two mothers, in midlife, looked to their adult daughters to perform selfobject functions. The daughters of these patients felt threatened by their mother's desire for emotional dependence and had emotionally distanced themselves from their mothers. Emotional estrangement from their daughters had caused these patients to experience feelings of depression severe enough to seek treatment. The article describes the use of a conjoint mother-daughter session within the context of the mother's individual treatment to help these mothers to recognize the unresolved separation-individuation in their relationships with their daughters and to promote a healthier connection in the mother-daughter relationship.     

Gender,Religiosity, Spirituality,and Attitudes toward Homosexuality

This article investigates the relationship between religiosity, spirituality, gender, and attitudes toward homosexuality. The article augments the existing literature by examining the effects of religious affiliation, religiosity, and spirituality on attitudes toward homosexuality separately for men and women using the 2008 and 2010 General Social Surveys. Results indicate significant gender differences in attitudes toward homosexuality for two variables. Southern residence decreases tolerance among men, but not women. Also, men who self-identify as spiritual, but not religious, are more likely to report that homosexuality is not morally wrong than their more religious counterparts; however, a similar finding was not evident among the women who self-identified as spiritual.     

Critical Thoughts on American Social Work and the Crisis of Modernity: Lessons From Theory and Current Events

Social work in America is at a curious junction: continue down the status quo path of professionalization or embrace an antagonistic and critical, political stance toward global institutions and the logics of injustice. This article defines the junction as a crisis of modernity wherein the institutions and logics reflecting modernity’s primary forms—capitalism and democracy—suffer material and affective setbacks. The New Social Work Left movement is advocated as a useful response to the crisis of modernity, and initial strategies are offered for fostering a New Social Work Left in the United States.     

‘Business under new management’ — lessons from Canada on regulation of the social work profession

Abstract

In December 1998 the Social Work and Social Service Work Act (hereafter the Ontario Act) was passed in Ontario, Canada marking the effective completion of social work regulatory legislation across provincial Canada. This article outlines the principal features of the Ontario regulations, and summarises the strengths and limitations of the various arrangements which have been implemented across Canada. As moves toward control of the Australian social work profession are contemplated, the implications for such a move are discussed in the light of the Canadian experience.     

Professional morale and social work training: A study

This article presents the results of an empirical study that was designed to ascertain the state of professional morale of the membership of the Connecticut Society for Clinical Social Work. The data suggest a dissatisfaction with career choice. Reassessment of the character and quality of social work supervision emerges as one of the study's implications.This article is adapted from the author's Masters thesis,Social Workers, Social Work, and Professional Self-Perceptions (1978), for the Smith College School for Social Work. The author wishes to thank Professor Roger Miller of Smith for his helpful comments.     

Beating the blues: Cognitive-behavioral treatment for depression in child-maltreating young mothers

Young mothers are at risk for depression. The article first reviews research on social and cognitive risk factors for depression and then considers the relationship between depression and child maltreatment. Cognitive-behavioral casework techniques that may improve social integration and self-management—mitigators of depression—are detailed. Finally, a case study demonstrates the use of these techniques with a depressed and maltreating mother.I am indebted to Joni Hardcastle, Andre Ivanoff, Rita Marlow, and Josie Solseng Maxwell for their contributions to the development and testing of the methods herein described and to Victoria Velasquez for permission to use the case study. I am grateful to Steven Paul Schinke and the staff of Social Work Research, Child Development and Mental Retardation Center, University of Washington, for their support of this project and the William T. Grant Foundation for funding this work and for their commitment to improving the mental health care of young people. Special thanks to Pixie Reiten and Mary Ann Liebert. For assistance preparing this article I thank Jordana Ash, Lorretta Morales Dodson, Christine Frazita, Lois Holt, Vicki Keller and Sharon Ikami.     

Self-reported ageism in students and academic staff—the case of the Social Work Department in Crete,Greece

This study focuses on self-reported ageism among social work students and academic staff in the Social Work Department of Crete, Greece; the 20-item questionnaire Relating to Older People Evaluation (ROPE) was used to measure negative and positive ageist behaviours that respondents engage in during everyday life. Positive ways of relating to old people were reported much more often than the negative ways; no significant differences in mean endorsement scores between academic staff and undergraduate students in either the positive or the negative dimensions were found. Women endorsed positive ageism items more often than men did, but the two genders did not differ in their endorsement of negative ageism items. This association was observed both for the students and academic staff. For students, no relationship between how many years they had spent studying and endorsement score was observed for either the positive or the negative behaviour items. Social work students and academic staff should be aware that positive ageism may turn into paternalism; it is important that social work education prepares students in order to approach clients with a non-prejudiced attitude and to provide them with quality services.     

Three-dimensional virtual reality: Applications to the 12 grand challenges of social work

Abstract

The American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW) identified 12 Grand Challenges of Social Work to unify the profession with focused research, practice and policy applications for the most pressing social issues. Virtual Reality (VR), specifically three-dimensional immersive computer-generated environments, has a history of research and applications to address social and behavioral problems. VR is becoming more readily available, as the technology is becoming more common in mainstream platforms such as mobile technology. While social work interventions are often tailored for vulnerable populations that may not have access to VR computing, it appears that virtual reality is gaining accessibility with these advances. Within the framework of the 12 Grand Challenges of Social Work, researchers from three social work virtual reality laboratories in the United States, Texas State University, the University of Houston, and the University of Alabama, review applications previously tested and currently in development to focus future research and intervention in social work practice.     

Singular and plural objects: Thoughts on object relations theory

Object relations theory has been dominated by the concept of the mother as the primary and most influential object in infancy. New considerations of the role of the father are questioning this premise and raising issues about the influence of multi-object relationships in very early life. Illustrations are drawn from different cultures with a wide variety of child rearing practices. Implications for theory, assessment, and treatment are illustrated through case material.in private practice. This article is a revised version of an address to The New Jersey Society for Clinical Social Work, May 22, 1983.     

Conclusion

Abstract

The first national symposium on Social Work and Divinity Dual Degree Programs was designed to examine the current state of these interdisciplinary joint degree programs from both pedagogical and practical perspectives. The underlying assumption was that a more holistic approach is needed to advance our understanding of human nature, including the dimension of spirituality and the complexity of social issues. The rationale, issues, and promise for a strong commitment on the part of participating institutions toward educating the dual degree students are reflected in the context of the symposium's theme: Building Compassionate Communities: An Integration of Theology and Social Work in Professional Education and Practice. By examining the current state of social work and divinity dual degree program at Loyola University as a case example, this paper highlights the salient ideas and reflective discussions that were emerged from the symposium.     

Environmental Justice Is a Social Justice Issue: Incorporating Environmental Justice Into Social Work Practice Curricula

Social justice education for social work practice is concerned with addressing issues of power and oppression as they impact intersections of identity, experience, and the social environment. However, little focus is directed toward the physical and natural environment despite overwhelming evidence that traditionally marginalized groups bear the burden of environmental problems. In this article, we discuss environmental disaster impacts on marginalized communities, presence of environmental justice in social work literature, and opportunities for integrating environmental justice into social work’s mandated disciplinary competencies. We conclude with an example of a module implemented in a foundation Social Justice for Social Work Practice course using place-based education principles as an illustration of concrete strategies for incorporating environmental justice into social justice curricula.     

National Hatred,Female Subjectivity,and the Boundaries of Cultural Discourse

In light of a study in Israel, which found that 28% of secular girls and 63% of religious girls expressed strong hatred toward Arabs (Cal and Maislees 1989), this paper explores the difference in emotional experience between the two groups of girls. Through in-depth interviews, it examines the meaning of national hatred as knowledge produced within a particular cultural discourse. In the case of the religious girls, feelings of hatred are produced through defensive emotion work aimed at securing the position of female religious subjectivity. The experience of the secular girls shows that when no single discourse is afforded privileged status, dissonant forms of knowledge stimulate the transformation of hatred into understanding and taking the role of the other. In both cases, the paper demonstrates the interplay between national discourse (secular and religious), emotional experience (of hatred), and the construction of (women's) subjectivity.     

Delivering a Social Work MSW Program through Distance Education: An Innovative Collaboration between Two Universities,USA

The Joint Master of Social Work Program of Cleveland State University and The University of Akron was the first MSW program taught entirely via distance education that was fully accredited by the Council of Social Work Education. Over the past nine years, the Joint MSW Program has grown from one cohort of 24 full‐time students to a program with an enrollment of 186 full‐time, part‐time and Advanced Standing students. This innovative Joint MSW Program has required an ongoing process of collaboration, refinement, and flexibility. The purpose of this article is to provide a narrative of the experiences of delivering an entire MSW program via distance education, including obstacles that have been overcome as well as recommendations for other programs considering distance education.     

Representations and complaints procedures

One of the potentially more onerous responsibilities of programme providers offering Diploma in Social Work Courses, is the strong recommendation in CCETSW PAPER 30 at Paragraph 3.2.4.2 to establish a clear procedure for handling complaints. This article seeks to outline the potential difficulties in establishing such a procedure, discusses some of the principles which in the writer's view are necessary core conditions for an effective procedure and outlines a possible model for practice. This model was consulted with students, practice teachers and university based teaching staff. Consultation with the full membership of the Diploma in Social Work Partnership and with the wider university is not completed at the time of writing. It is hoped that a subsequent article will outline the final structure of the model agreed upon and its operation on a trial basis for 12 months from Spring 1992.

The writer has had experience of developing and operating a complaints procedure for workers in voluntary social work agencies in New Zealand and also for foster carers in a London borough. The article draws on experience in those two very different settings, as well as the experience of working to develop a procedure for the Diploma of Social Work course.     

The therapeutic utilization of canines in a child welfare setting

This article describes the therapeutic use of canines in child welfare work. The chronically rejected child, or those who virtually spend their entire youth in care, tend to develop a withdrawn, depressed, and suspicious posture toward their relations with other people. This ultimately results in their failure to respond to conventional treatment modalities. Under these circumstances, the canine intervention may prove to be a valuable adjunct, helping to develop and to expedite the process of the therapeutic alliance.This article is a revised version of one presented to meet the requirements for the Masters in Social Work Degree from Hunter College School of Social Work.     

“Mapping Social Justice”: Integrating Policy Practice Across the Curriculum

ABSTRACT

The National Association of Social Workers and the Council on Social Work Education identify social justice as a guiding principle of the social work profession, yet there is little consensus in the field of what the term actually means and how it can be achieved. Master of Social Work programs are likewise struggling with how to educate students on social justice and prepare them to engage in macro-level advocacy after graduating. This article examines how one student-led social justice initiative at a school of social work is seeking to increase student engagement in macro-level social justice work through the use of targeted advocacy alerts. This article explores the project’s development, implementation, first-year feedback, and modifications made to provide other MSW programs a blueprint to adopt their own version of the project. Findings suggest that the targeted alert model may be successful in engaging clinical MSW students in social justice advocacy.     

Efforts to create meaning in the relationship between aging mothers and their caregiving daughters: A qualitative study of caregiving

Using grounded theory methodology, this research identifies the major themes or meaning systems that caregiving daughters and their aging mothers apply to their caregiving. In depth interviews with 11 mother-daughter pairs explore attitudes toward filial responsibility and actual caregiving experiences. Five themes emerge describing the cognitive, affective, motivational, and interpersonal components of the meaning systems of filial caregiving: increased relational tolerance or acceptance, redefinition of the mother-daughter relationship, aging awareness, relationship priority, and sacrifice. Four themes are evident in both mothers' and daughters' narratives, whereas the final theme, sacrifice, is linked to daughters' accounts. These themes reflect efforts to create meaning at the interpersonal, familial, symbolic, and psychological levels. The significance of the findings for understanding the dynamic nature of the mother-daughter relationship is discussed.     

Boredom: Exploration of a developmental perspective

This article presents an examination of the phenomenon of boredom in adults and searches for a developmental explanation for boredom by using clues from the cumulative literature on boredom, clinical interviews with bored adults and findings from infant observational studies. The author attempts to link behaviors observed in infant research with the phenomenon of adult boredom toward the goal of contributing to a more precise meaning of this state of mind in both the patient and the therapist.Material in this article is drawn in part from a dissertation completed in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Ph.D. at Smith College School for Social Work, 1983. The author wishes to thank the subjects for their interest and reflections.